Shoplifting from the Co-op is one of the dumbest things you can do. Every week, the campus paper has the police blotter with kids getting arrested for larceny. Every week, yet some kids still try it. I know great students who have been expelled for stealing from the Co-op.

That being said, I think "You're being watched... all the time" is the wrong message to send these players. I feel that many of these players have an undeserved sense of entitlement and privilege. Mike Osiecki is in his first semester on the team, stealing from the Co-op is both a bold and stupid move. Nevermind that he is getting a free education, nevermind that as a student, he is a partial owner of the Co-op and receives a rebate on all of his purchases, the university provides everything these kids could need, especially for the athletes. I'm sure Edsall will set him strait, but this cannot become a trend for the football players.

Great point Dez. However since most of the players here have already been stars in some "little galaxy" already, moving to a larger setting should not change the fact of having a lot of people watching what they do. I guess my question would be why would anyone need to be aware that they are being watched to do the right thing? I'm sure his parents raised him to be more responsible than that. In the larger scheme of things stealing a power bar is not going to create an insurmountable legal obstacle for a student/athlete but questions about a person's character can stick for a long time once raised. This is absolutely the worst way to endear yourself to Coach Edsall I can think of. Hopefully some reasonable punishment can occur and a strong lesson can be taught about what type of opportunity this young man is involved with. I always believe in second chances for those who commit to making things right and doing the right thing. For others, who choose the dishonest path or show no remorse, it's best to part ways. I hope to see a strong bounce-back from this like Andre Dixon had from his issues.

People are trying to downplay this, in reality he commited a robbery. Sure the value was down but the intent was there. He went into a store with the intent to rob something and he did. He is a criminal, and should be punished as such.

Very stupid move by this young man but I hope that RE and the rest of the staff take him aside and let him know that this type of stuff will not be tolerated. I use to work at the CO-OP and their are security cameras everywhere and are being watched all the time. It is crazy. Was what he did earth shattering, no but he needs to realize that he is hurting himself and his team when he gets caught doing things like this. RE has worked hard to rid the team of these players who attract negative attention and this will not fly with him. UC football does not need this negativity when trying to build a great program. DC, hope all is well and you are being good! Take care!

Hard to say right now how he'd handle it because everything is alleged.

But if true I'm not sure how he'd handle it. That kind of stuff is usually kept in-house, well, outside of the Memorial Stadium stairs running but whatever it is I'm sure he would have the blessings of Osiecki's mom and dad.

I think some people (Falko, Javon, Steve) need to calm down a bit. First and foremost, it's a stupid move on Osiecki's part. Nobody is going to disagree with that. But some people need to think back to the days of your youth when you were 19 years old. Can you say that stealing a Powerbar was the worst thing you do did at that age? If you can, good for you. I sure can't, and by no means was I a bad kid. Come on, a criminal? That's how you're going to describe the kid? Gimme a break. The kid made a terrible choice and will suffer the consequences. Some people want to rail on the entitlement jock stigma, but regular students, as noted in a post above, try to pull this off too for whatever reason. It's a stupid move for sure, but also worth mentioning here is the absolute power trip that the UConn cops are on. They were like that when I was in school and nothing has changed.

Hey I was hoping you got on the chat Monday. I know you're an educator and live down here but I wanted to get your thoughts on the school redistricting in Middletown? It'd not affecting my crew but it looks like a lot of their friends are heading out. Overall, I think it stinks.

My first semester in college, a pledge brother of mine switched a tag on a hat in THE BEST/ONLY STORE our rural area in MD had to offer a college kid! Well, of course, he (we) got caught. But instead of prosecuting, we were never allowed back in the store. That's a lonnnng four years of writing things on a sheet of paper for your girlfriend to pick up at the store for you.

Des, question: Why do the message-board czars allow comments such as "What a loser" up there from the angelic Steve? Is this the Courant's way of punishing an idiotic action by a kid?

one of lifes little lessons i am sure. the kid screwed up, and i am sure by getting caught for something small, it may help prevent him from continuing this behavior down the road when its something bigger. i am sure every knucklehead in this post has pulled this bonehead move at some point in their youth. Besides the U of Miami had players shooting, raping, drug selling, assaulting, stealing cars, and most of those kids turned out to be outstanding citizens in the NFL.

Sorry, but nothing suggests this was a robbery. A robbery is defined LEGALLY as the direct taking of property (including money) from a person (victim) through force, threat or intimidation. Did he take something that wasn't his? Seems so. Did he use force, threat or intimidation? Not that has been reported. Let's neither minimize what he did or overstate it.

Hard to believe that you can get away with calling any arrest of an athlete at UConn "not a big deal."‬
‪If it's not a big deal then why are you reporting on it?‬
‪Doing something that leads to the need for police action and an arrest is a big deal, no matter what the crime. ‬
‪The most interesting part of the whole situation is that Jordan Todman was held out of practice for what? Missing a class or two? Guy gets arrested on Monday and is allowed to practice on Tuesday and not a word is said about it by Randy Edsall, but he tells everybody why Jordan Todman is a screw up? Very similar to when Edsall allowed Marvin Taylor to start in a game the day after he was arrested in 2006. Why isn't anybody questioning why Edsall wouldn't sit Osiecki out of practice for getting arrested? Smells to me like Edsall was just hoping nobody would find out about Osiecki and they could move on without another arrest rap being found out and added to what's turning into quite a long arrest sheet over the past few years for this team. ‬

First, I'm going to assume your handle is actually No Excuses not No Ec, er, whatever you have there.

Second, try to not to mistate what I've said. Most people who comment here know my only real pet peeve is being misquoted or somebody says something I said when what I said is right in front of you.

If you go back to what I wrote, I believe I said, in the "grand scheme of things" it's no big deal.

In the grand scheme of things "no", no, sixth-degree larcency, really, isn't a big deal compared to a lot of other stuff people get away with. Is it bad publicity, yes.

I guess you never made a mistake, huh? If you want to send the kid to the chair for this? Start a petition but I bet you'll be one of the first one jumping up and down in your seat when he makes a play.

Now, all that being said "no" you may very well be, and probably are, right about the coach knowing when he met with the media on Tuesday but that will lead to more stops at UPD from now on.

I don't mean to come off as a hardass on Osiecki, I'm sure it's a stupid mistake he will never make again. I just hope he can learn and grow from it, we all know how much Andre Dixon matured in 4 years. If Osiecki stays humble and works hard, I'm sure he'll be fine.

I think that this isssue really struck a nerve. CT fans are passionate about their team and also very proud about the character of the players on our various teams. I was glad to hear you mention Mike's mom and dad were no nonsense people. It makes me feel that this will be cleared up quickly, responsibly and with the student making amends. Unless there is a lot more to this story than was reported, this could have been handled in far better ways than having a student arrested. But in the end, I think the young man will learn and grow from this offense. We, as fans, do need to step back and take a breath. This isn't a serious crime. But stealing is a serious matter that all good people are offended by. Unless I don't know anything about Coach, I feel he will use this bad incident to teach a good lesson. Thanks for sharing.

Marcus – I am not saying I am or was an angel back in the day, but when I was not being an angel I was being a loser. I’ll admit that forever. If my kid takes my car without my permission and goes for a joyride and does a lawn job or 2, I’m still going to be upset with him/her despite the fact that I did that when I was a kid. Being a loser and doing loser-type things does not mean the kid is a bad kid, they are just being a loser.

I really hope this topic does not dominate the chat on Monday. He allegedly stole a Powerbar people. Run the stadium steps for a while, learn and be done with it.

No Ecxuses, or whatever you meant to call yourself, I'll gladly compare UConn's arrest sheet over the past couple years to most other FBS schools across the country. Let's get a grip here folks....if this is the worst incident this year, I think we are doing ok.

Hey Dez I didn't feel like commenting on this article because I feel like its one of those articles where everyone jumps down your throat no matter what you say, but I have to say that what this kid did was nothing, it is so minor I can't believe it reached a big time newspaper and website. I mean it was a power bar. And for those who commented that hes a criminal for it and hes on scholarship so that means he has everything, these are people who obviously weren't on a scholarship because my best friend played at Uconn and I was close with alot of his teammates and trust me folks just cause your on scholarship doesn't mean your buying gucci shoes and eating filet mignon, they give you fifty bucks a week and pay for school and you are a slave for them, so lets take it easy on a local kid like Mike Osiecki and wish him the best

Dez came to Connecticut in 1991 and began covering high schools, then UConn football, the NFL, UConn basketball, Big East football, Big East basketball, national college football, national college basketball, the NBA. He has been a beat writer ... read more